Brother: Teacher who was shot by police was likely suicidal

GLENVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — An elementary school teacher from a law enforcement family suffered from depression and likely was suicidal when he charged at officers with a knife and was fatally shot, said the teacher's brother, who is a police investigator.

State police said Brian Skinner, 32, was killed and Glenville Police Officer Benjamin Ferretti was wounded by friendly fire during Friday night's confrontation in Glenville, in Schenectady County about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northwest of Albany.

Patrick Skinner, a state police investigator in Binghamton, told the Times Union of Albany (http://bit.ly/2veYaT6) that his brother likely wanted to end his life.

"Anyone who knew him or saw him on a regular basis did not know his depression was still there," Patrick Skinner told the newspaper. The brothers' father, John M. Skinner, retired as a state police senior investigator in 2004 after working in the same area as Patrick Skinner, state police officials said Monday.

Authorities said Glenville officers and police from the neighboring village of Scotia responded to a call about a man in a domestic dispute with a gun. Brian Skinner came out of the house and rushed at officers, who opened fire, said state police, who are handling the investigation.

Troopers said Saturday that no one else was inside the home.

One of the officers' bullets struck Ferretti, 22, under his bullet-resistant vest. He was listed in stable condition at Albany Medical Center Hospital.

Glenville Town Supervisor Christopher Koetzle swore in Ferretti as a member of the police department in January 2016 and said he was immediately impressed with the rookie's "professionalism and enthusiasm."

"His spirits are high," Koetzle said after visiting Ferretti in the hospital over the weekend.

Brian Skinner was a fifth-grade teacher at an elementary school in the Shenendehowa district in Clifton Park, in neighboring Saratoga County. His violent death left students, parents and fellow teachers devastated.

Shenendehowa Board of Education President William Casey said everyone was "genuinely surprised by this tragedy."

Troopers said the shooting remained under investigation and no new information was being released Monday.